Tree-trimming the Quick Way!

Whack! Whack! and Drop the Machete!
All before I can turn on my cellphone & photograph it!
2 limbs of my Guarumo Tree were banging against roof in the wind.
My yard, Atenas, Costa Rica

Photo gallery of My Home Gardens

And for anyone planning to drive a car here in the near future, Ruta 27 will get a little faster next week and the La Patina Bridge repairs & widening is to be finished by April 30 according to this article in Tico Times. And it will speed up the buses to San Jose also!

Lineated Woodpecker

Lineated Woodpecker
In my garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
I was thrilled that he was just 2 meters off my deck!
AND in the open! (for less than a minute!)
I have several shots of this species, but this is best!
One at Rancho Naturalista was previous best.
And I had a Fair Shot in Panama

Lineated Woodpecker
In tree in my garden, Atenas, Costa Rica
This “Peek-a-boo” sighting behind leaves is often all I get.
Still makes me happy! 

See my photo gallery of Birds photos made since I moved to Costa Rica. This gallery shows you my number one motivation for moving to and retiring in Costa Rica. I love the birds here!

Triquitraque or Flame Vine Blooming for This Year

The brilliant orange flowers of Triquitraque or Flame Vine is a great contrast to the blue Plumbago flowers.
I saturated the color so they’re not really this red, but are a deeper orange than next untouched photos.

If I remember correctly they will bloom 2 to maybe 3 months, February-April. I had hoped for year around blooms like some of my other plants, but this gives me something special for this time of year. And this year they cover more of my stark concrete wall, which is what I wanted! 🙂  ¡Me gusta!

AND PHOTOS FROM LAST YEAR: 

See also my photo gallery Flora & Forests
And read about Flamevine which Costa Ricans call Triquitraque, Spanish for “a string of firecrackers” or sometimes can mean “creaking” or “rattling” in colorful conversations.  🙂

Chachalacas at My Breakfast Table

Immature Gray-headed Chachalaca
Flying out of a Yellow-bell Tree in my gardens, Atenas, Costa Rica
Two Immature Gray-headed Chachalacas
Sitting in a Yellow-bell Tree in my gardens, Atenas, Costa Rica

Identification Explanations for the Birders Who Read This

When I first saw them I thought “Black Guan” which can be in this part of the country, but on closer examination, they do not have the red eyes and legs that all black guans have, nor the blue facial skin. I knew we had Chachalacas in Roca Verde, so I resigned myself to darker than usual Chachalacas and thought maybe Plain rather than Gray-headed, BUT, the book says Plain don’t live in this part of the country, only in Guanacaste. And my earlier photo of one in my garden (note how much lighter) fit the Gray-headed description and they live in the Central Valley. Plus some online investigation shows some juvenile Gray-headed Chachalacas to be very dark or black. Also the white tips on the tail feathers are only seen in the Gray-headed Chachalaca. Here’s another one at Rancho Naturalista  which is darker but not black. 
Whew! Identification can be a challenge sometimes and every species seem to have some exceptions!
See my photo gallery of BIRDS

Read about Gray-headed Chachalacas on NeotropicalBirds by Cornell University
Or a different kind of article on Wikipedia

Orange-chinned Parakeet

Orange-chinned Parakeet zoomed in on him in my Strangler Fig Tree
My garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

Orange-chinned Parakeet zoomed in even more
My garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

Most are very timid and it is difficult to get close enough for a good photo. See my collection of birds in my BIRDS PHOTO GALLERY with nearly 200 shot in Costa Rica, a hundred in Nicaragua, plus more in Panama, Guatemala and Mexico. Central America is full of colorful birds!